Car-seal.



W. 0. MARTINEAU.

0A3.- SEAL. APPLICATION FILED MAB. 13, 1913.

Patented Mar.30,19115.

Wain 658 e s THE NORRIS PETERS GIL, FHDTO-MTHU" WASHINGTUN. b. C.

TTNTTE 2A2 WILLIAM C. MARTINEAU', OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL CAR SEAL AND APPLIANCE COMPANY, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CAR-SEAL.

masses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 30, 1915..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM. G. MAR- TINEAU, a citizen of the United States, residing at Albany, Albany county, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Seals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to seals for car doors, store-rooms and the like; for electric or gas meters; for trunks and boxes in transportation; and for like purposes.

The object of my invention is to produce a seal which shall be simple, economical, efficient, easily sealed and incapable of being unsealed except by such injury as will be obvious on inspection. A further. object of the invention is to produce a seal capable of being used either as a self-contained seal, 2'. 6., one which has all its indicia marked thereon at the time of making; or as a press seal, which has a tag portion adapted to receive the impress of a sealing tool, by which it is marked at the time of attachment with a station number or like legend.

In some respects the present device resembles that of my Patent #1,082,414t, dated July 16, 1912; but differs therefrom, inter alia, in that the box portion and the tag are permanently secured together when the seal is made.

In the drawings, which represent certain preferred forms of my device, Figure 1 is an elevation of a seal embodying my invention ready for attachment; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the plane 2--2,'Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 are elevations of the tag and shackle parts detached; Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the shackle of Fig. 4, taken on the plane 5--5 therein; Fig. 6 is an elevation of a modified form of the device; Fig. 7 is a transverse section through the plane 7--7, Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is an elevation of a blank from which a further modified form of my device is made, such form being shown in elevation in Fig. 9; Fig. 10 is a vertical section through the plane 10-10, Fig. 9; Fig. 11 shows in perspective another form of shackle detached.

Referring to the first five figures, 21 designates the box part of the device comprising a back 22, top fold 23 transversely beaded at 24, and front portion 25 shouldered at 26 to form a depending portion 26*, parallel with and closely adjacent to the lower part of back 22.

27 is a tag of rectangular form with a recess 28 cut in its upper edge leaving two lugs 29, 30.

31 is a shackle, shown as of round wire, having at one end an eye 32 and at the other a flat coil 33, from within which projects laterally at a low angle so as to form a hook the extreme end 34: of the wire, see Fig. 5.

The seal is assembled by placing tag 27 between the walls 22 and 26 and welding them together, the width of fold 23 and the depth of shoulder 26 being such that a space is left between the front face of lugs 29, 30

and the inner face of the upper portion of front 25 above shoulder 26 substantially equal to the diameter of the wire of shackle 31, see Fig. 2. The eye 32 of the shackle is then slipped into the left end, Fig. 1. of this space and a dent or depression 35 in walls 25 and 22 and in lug 29 is stamped, which enters the eye and holds one end of shackle 31 securely attached to the welded body and tag.

To use the seal, the shackle is passed through, c. g., a hasp over which the eye of a latchhas been engaged or through two staples, one on a car door and the other on the car body, and the coil 33 slipped into the right end, Fig. 1, of the box portion, which momentarily forces the resilient end of the shackle into coil 33 until it passes lug 30, when it springs laterally outward and is firmly and undetachably engaged therewith, so that it cannot be disengaged except by the destruction of the seal or at least such injury thereto as will insure detection when the seal is next inspected. The object of transverse beads 24: on body 21 is to prevent tampering with the seal by filing or grinding off the top of fold 23 without conspicuously altering the appearance of the seal. In practice, this form of seal is made advantageously of hard steel as to the body 21 and of tin plate as to the tag, the gage of the tag being much less than that of the body. Any desired permanent indicia may be marked on the body portion before folding, the tag tWeen the lower being sufficiently soft and thin to receive the impress of a sealing tool, which indicates the shipping station or the like.

It will be observed that the eye 32 and the coil 33 substantially fill their respective ends of the box portion into which they are passed, so as to prevent the introduction of a pick-lock or other tool for pressing inward the end 34 of the shackle.

It is obvious that any desired material may be employed in making the seal, as, e. 9., the tag may be of brass and brazed, instead of welded, into the body 21. Or the tag vloe'of equally heavy and hard material with the body, 2'. e., where the seal is to be used as self-contained.

In Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, I show a body 41 substantially like body 21, except that a rectangular depression or panel 44 is stamped into its front wall 45 above shoulder 46, its plain rear wall 42 being unchanged. It will be seen, Fig. 7, that this provides shoulders 48 within the box and adapted to engage with two ends 34 of shackle .51, both ends of which are formed with coils 33 similar to that shown in Fig. 4. In this construction the tag 47 isa plain rectangle in form and extends within the body 41 only up to the shoulder 46.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10, the body 50 is shown in Fig. 8 as made from a blank of general rectangular form but with two pairs of lateral lugs 52 and 53 projecting from its rear wall 54. In making, lugs 52 are first folded inward, then the blank is folded at 55 and a shoulder formed at 56., so that the upper part of front wall 57 forms the front portion of a box, as before, while its lower part is pressed nearly against rear wall 54. A rectangular tag 61 is then introduced beportions of walls 54, 57, lugs 53 are folded down and secured by rivets 62, which pass through lugs 53, front and rear Walls 54, 57 and tag 61.

v It is clear that a shackle 51, as shown in Fig. 7, may be employed, its ends being slipped into the box portion, Figs. 9 and 10, when the resilient lateral tip ends 34 will engage with the internal shoulders formed by lugs 52.

In Fig. 11, I have shown a shackle 71, formed from a strip of resilient sheet metal, and having bent ends 72, which may be substituted for the wire shackles heretofore described.

A distinct advantage of my present device over that of my former Patent 1,032,414, above referred to, lies in the fact that the welding, riveting .or otherwise permanently securing the box and tag portions together during the process of manufacture provides a much stronger and less tamperable seal, and particularly one in which a single, simple operation, that of inserting the shackle in the box is alone required to attach the seal to'a car, trunk or the like.

It will be understood that many changes, other than those shown or suggested, may be made in the device without departing from my invention. I do not therefore consider myself as limited except by the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. A car seal comprising a body of hard and relatively thick metal folded to form a box and front and rear walls depending below said box; a tag of relatively thin metal permanently secured between said walls; a shackle having ends adapted to be inserted within the ends of said box; and cooperating means within said box and on said shackle ends for preventing their separation.

2. In a car seal of the class described, a box having internal shackle-engaging means; and a wire shackle one end of which is formed into a flat coil from within which the extreme end of the wire projects laterally at a low angle so as to form a hook adapted to engage said shackle engaging means, said coil being of a size to substantially close the aperture in said box.

WILLIAM C. MA R-TINEAU.

Witnesses MINNIE J. Rnnvns, Gno. L. Coornn.

Qopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Was i g n, D. 0- 

